My two largest alligators, female Spin, and male Twist were first introduced in 2000.  After a rocky start, when she bit him and tore a few scales off, they got along fine and I saw some courtship behavior.  Beyond some snout rubbing, synchronized swimming and bubble blowing I don't know if it went any further.

     2001 was a different story.  Courtship was observed several times in the late afternoon, and I observed actual copulation once.
In mid-July, Spin began tearing up plants in the enclosure and doing some digging in the heavy clay.  The summer had been oppressive with little rainfall and temperatures over 100 degrees every day for some time, so I tried to help out by spraying the pen down each day.  On Monday July 16, I decided to help her out by building a nest mound for her, since she had not progressed much.  I dug out an area about 3-4 feet in diameter, about one foot down.  I then filled the hole with a mixture of dead grass, composted wood shavings and some of the clay soil from the hole.  The next morning I was encouraged that she had staked out the mound and was hopeful that she might use it to lay any eggs she might have. Spin with the nest mound I built.  Twist is in the background.

She soon seemed to lose interest, however and returned to digging in the opposite corner of the pen.
The corner where she had dug out about 6" of soil and sod.

     On Saturday, July 21, I took another tack and dumped two wheelbarrow loads of compost in the corner wher she had been doing the most digging.


By Monday morning she had moved the entire pile a distance of about three feet and had left tail tracks across the top.  She was seriously guarding this mound, charging the fence as I came close to take pictures.  (she has never previously been aggressive aside from feeding time).
     I decided to "tunnel" into the mound to feel for eggs, since she had built her nest against the fence.  I hung a piece of flake board on the fence, so she couldn't see what I was doing.  After digging in almost to my elbow, I felt what I first thought  was a rock in the mound.  Feeling it more carefully, it was obvious that it was an egg.  I had already decided to remove the majority of any eggs she might produce for artificial incubation, so I kept digging for more.
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After removing about 15 eggs, I was tunnelling deeper and deeper, feeling for more.  I suddenly felt pressure, as the compost pressed down on my hand and extracted my arm with great speed.  As I peered around the barrier, I saw Spin with her snout buried in the mound all the way up to her eyes.  She had apparently seen the nest moving and jumped in to take care of the "predator" doing the raiding.  My plan to keep her from damaging her nose while protecting her nest had almost caused a much bigger problem.
Note the mulch on Spin's nose, after diving in after my hand.

     The remainder of the eggs I collected while two helpers used brooms ( and more sets of eyes) to make sure both gators were out of striking range.  Spin continued to aggressively protect her nest, and I quit tunnelling shortly afterward.  I'm pretty sure there are more eggs still in the mound.  I'll add an escape-proof barrier around the bottom of the fence to prevent the unwanted release of baby gators in Oklahoma City.
The end result, 17 good looking eggs, plus two undersized/misshapen.

     I divided the eggs into four containers, using cypress mulch, vermiculite and peat moss in different containers.  They will be incubated in two different rooms, so as not to have them "all in one basket". Now all I can do is wait.  I'll be ecstatic if any hatch, but even if none do, there is always next year.  Watch this page for updates in late September/Early November.

Update--7-30-01
It's been a week, and I checked on a few of the eggs. One which had had a small crack in it was leaking, so I pulled it out and disposed of the remainder of the contents.  I candled a few of the eggs (in place, I don't want to risk moving them)  Some appear infertile, with no opaque banding, but several look like good eggs, with a band begiining to form around the hemisphere.  Waiting is hard.